1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a catalytic body used for deodorization in room heating, hot-water supply, drying, cooking, cold storage, air conditioning and incineration apparatuses and the like.
2. Related Art
Previously, deodorization of room air has been mainly effected by placing active carbon in the room to adsorb gaseous offensive odor substances. Another method which has recently come to be used is to place an apparatus having an ozone-generating function in the room and oxidatively decompose the offensive odor components with ozone gas.
These offensive odor substances are mainly sulfur-containing or nitrogen-containing organic substances, such as ammonia, fatty acids, unsaturated hydrocarbons, mercaptans, etc. They are produced by physiological phenomena, such as perspiration of living human beings, and by decomposition of foods. The above-mentioned methods of adsorption with active carbon have various problems. That is, the adsorption activity of active carbon is low for some species of the odor components, it is saturated soon and cannot easily be recovered, and it is often hindered by the moisture in the atmosphere. Consequently, active carbon is obliged to be replaced periodically. On the other hand, the method of decomposing offensive odors with ozone has problems in that a special device is necessary for controlling the concentration of generated ozone to an optimum level for the decomposition and deodorization, some odor component species are hardly decomposed by ozone, and ozone generators have a short, limited lifetime.
An object of the present invention is, overcoming the problems of the prior art mentioned above, to provide a catalytic body having a simple structure and a long life which exhibits a function of removing offensive odors and harmful gases completely.